Wherein Romola Garai manages to convince as a talented dancer.....apart from that, this isn't really a movie. Less tiresome than its predecessor for a sequel to be sure, and it still falls way short of being any good. There is an offputting lack of commitment to any topic broached at first by the screenplay, so it never begins to take flight as a drama, romance, dance exhibition, or all of the above. Sela Ward and Patrick Swayze, among others in minimal parts, practically do all but make the signal to have easy money from sloth wired to their bank accounts. One last note. If anything, the whole too-evident indifference of this seems to have its focus misguided, to be most caught up in the most ensnared, telling defect somehow: how its self-conscious star has likely realized the studio just wanted Rebecca Gayheart and how Garai is literally unable to pass herself off as any kind of blonde equivalent. 5/10

After devoting the first half or so of its runtime to a familiar, but still freshly presented looming disaster, panicked civilian setup........all mostly followed at nighttime (IMHO some of the more intriguing material to be found in a Ric Waugh endeavor, easily - even if it never manages to cope itself with certain particulars like how Baccarin is completely miscast), this plummets into a dreary, futile void of its own making and sinks, like the entire production had literally no idea how to follow through on the first hour and eventually opted not to. Bizarre that they weakly try to staple some kind of subplot about Butler and his immediate family being dependent on his father-in-law/Scott Glenn during this flatlining second hour (Glenn might as well have not shown up at all). Worse, during this lousy second half with its dearth of dialogue they actually resort to selling the token kid actor further short, giving him some very inane nonsense about being reflective and looking back on one's life to spew just so his parents can nod in approval......gross. All in all, this is a typically dopey piece of studio crap (as opposed to a looming disaster event movie of any worthwhile ability) and to rub it in it didn't have to be if it didn't want to. Waugh is simply not much of a director outside of the technicals. Felon (2008) is likely touted as his best, most personal work for some reason.....I couldn't stand it. 4.5/10

A dorky family man with more than a passing resemblance to a loony retard mogul like Steven Spielberg is a technophobe, gets caught up in an uprising plot by malcontent robots to overthrow humanity with his family of similar dorks........snore, seen it all before. This trash, totally bereft of a plot worth a damn or at least remotely defensible voice acting/characterization took at least two sittings for me to trudge through. While it wouldn't be alone as a movie in that regard, I can safely say this was a bigger endurance test than most of what I've watched this year, and that includes some really dire Disney cack. All this is a surefire lock for is the most rampantly ANNOYING feature of this kind in quite some time, that has to let you know like you're a mentally challenged sort at every turn that it's *animated*, like the most idiotic Saturday morning cartoon. So how is this trash popular? Dorks fail. Viewers must be becoming robotic and dorky themselves to find anything close to latching onto here. How is being overcaffeinated in tone and more sped up than an F1 race equated with fun? 1.5/10

More a soulful indie pop attempt than result. It could have been much worse overall, yet a few too many so-so filler tracks get in the way. Sorry Mandy, though it narrowly misses the mark for being a decent album more than many are gonna care to admit. 6/10

I have a vested interest in this culinary line of work. Leave it to Hollywood to sap away its allure, all too often between this and drivel like 2021's Boiling Point. Chef is way too formulaic and frequently heavy-handed to be all that enjoyable of a plebeian chef's career study. Favreau has to go and shoehorn things in like a beyond cliched subplot with Dustin Hoffman (bleating lousy dialogue) as a blowhard, risk-averse restauranteur that leads to his own main character being fired and it bogs everything down for the worse. The Latino presence is also needless, token and off-putting, I bet nobody was remotely counting against Puente's Oye Como Va to turn up. And then there's Scarlett Johanssen slumming it up again in a tacked-on part. Favreau shows the right amount of spirit and zest in the lead role, he should have settled for a far better final cut screenplay. Could have used far more cooking or at least more easygoing inspired moments such as when Carl and his pals are karaokeing to Marvin Gaye's renowned Sexual Healing. 5.5/10